Popovich: The Puzzle Master

Puzzles come in a variety of shapes and sizes. There’s the standard jigsaw puzzle, which can have anywhere from five to 1000 pieces. Word Puzzles, like crosswords or anagrams, test ones knowledge of vocabulary and challenges you to discover new properties of your language. Then there’s the number one selling puzzle of all time, the Rubik’s cube, which is one of the most mentally challenging puzzles around.

However, not all puzzles can be bought off the shelf at Toys’R’Us. Puzzles are all around us. A mechanic putting together a new transmission, or an architect designing a new sky scraper, are all putting pieces together to construct a finished product. Both are, in one way or another, fitting pieces together to finish their puzzles.

One puzzle you can’t buy in a store, and is definitely harder then a Rubik’s Cube, is the San Antonio Spurs. Thankfully for Spurs fans, it seems like Gregg Popovich has completed a couple Rubik’s Cubes in his day.

The Spurs opened the season with five new players added to their roster. Out were former Spurs staples Bruce Bowen and Fabricio Oberto, as well as Tony Parker’s back up Jacque Vaughn and Kurt Thomas. In were Richard Jefferson, the veterans Theo Ratliff, Antonio McDyess and Keith Bogans, and Pittsburg rookie DeJuan Blair. In comparison to the Spurs roster, your nieces Dora the Explorer jigsaw puzzle seems like a Rubik’s Cube.

Nonetheless, expectations were extremely high at the beginning of the season and rightfully so. On paper, this was and still is one of the most talented squads in the league. But no matter how talented a team may be, without the proper rotation, the chances of competing for a championship are slim to none. Pop had his work cut out for him.

But before the season even started, the injury bug reared its ugly head. Tony Parker, Pop’s on-court voice, sprained his ankle playing over seas for France. Parker was able to play in the first five games, but missed the next three.

The rest of the Spurs roster also fell victim to the injury bug. McDyess missed four games with a variety of injuries. Also, Matt Bonner missed 17 games with a broken hand. Manu Ginobili missed time with a strained groin, and Micheal Finley missed almost two months with an ankle injury. The Spurs have dealt with so many injuries, they seem more like a skateboard team at the X games then an NBA team.

To make matters worse, Pop has had to deal with players demanding trades, and asking for more playing time. Roger Mason asked to be traded before the trade deadline because of lack of playing time, while Micheal Finley basically forced his way out of a Silver and Black jersey and into a Green one.